For Shelby Swain [1], her big "I made it" moment wasn't one defining opportunity but rather a culmination of a lot of hustling. Before becoming Lizzo [2]'s designated hairstylist and the self-proclaimed "Beyoncé of Baby Hair," she was a psychology major (but it was short-lived). After a swift career change, she opened her own little shop in California.
"I never wanted to be an everyday hairstylist," Swain tells POPSUGAR. "I wanted to be a hairstylist that created art — I like hair sculptures." It was by word of mouth that she broke into the entertainment side of the hair industry — someone who had stumbled into her shop started taking her on set to assist and help out. "I knew I wanted to get to set, but I didn't know how to get to set," she says.
Then, in 2016, a friend and music video director asked her to do hair for a couple of backup dancers for a project he was working on. It just so happened to be for Lizzo's "Good As Hell" music video [3].
Swain wasn't doing Lizzo [4]'s hair for that video — she was responsible for the backup dancers' looks. "I didn't know who Lizzo was," she says. It was six months after that that Swain got the opportunity to work with the artist directly. "I was like, 'Everything was meant for this moment right here,' and I've been with Lizzo ever since."
Ahead, Swain reveals some of her greatest memories working with the singer — including her favourite good as hell beauty products.
Lizzo's Coolest — and Most Controversial — Hairstyle
Swain's favourite hair look that she's created to date was also her most controversial: the "hair hat" she did on Lizzo for the 2019 BET Awards [5]. "I lost a whole sponsorship off of that hairstyle because they told me that I covered up her hair with a hat," Swain says. "I'm like, 'I did not cover her hair up with a hat — it is hair." She had painted the "wood-grain effect" onto the hair piece backstage beforehand and secured it to Lizzo [6]'s head moments before she stepped onto the red carpet.
How Lizzo's Hairstylist Works On Her Feet
Aside from the faux-hat hair sculpture, Swain's most memorable experience working with Lizzo [7] is any time she's created four or five styles in one night. Case in point: recent VMAs and Grammys. For the VMAs specifically [8], Swain created four looks in less than two hours: one for the red carpet, one for her performance, one for her audience look, and one for her award acceptance speech. "None of them were already pre-planned or anything," she says. "Normally, I just come in with a bag full of hair and a prayer, and I make it happen."
This process usually works, but it certainly gets a little hectic, especially when last-minute outfit changes occur. "Sometimes the stylist might come in with a whole new outfit real quick," says Swain, and she has to think quick on her feet to come up with a complementary hairstyle.
The Products Lizzo's Hairstylist Swears By
In addition to her "bag full of hair," there are a handful of products that Swain always keeps on hand, like the Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray [9] (£22). "Because, if you see with Lizzo [10], we love volume over there," she says. "That's our thing."
She also never leaves for work without edge control. "Her baby hair have to be laid," says Swain. "She can't get her hair done by the Beyoncé of baby hair and not have nothing laid. It just doesn't make sense." And last but not least, Biosilk Silk Therapy Original [11] (£24) "just to keep her hair nice, smooth, polished, and shiny." It's important to Swain that Lizzo's hair smells as good as she does so she always finishes with the R+Co Serious Gaze Hair Fragrance [12] (£23.50). So, if you were ever wondering what Lizzo smells like, now you know.